You have crossed the first step by answering the Common Admission Test; this is a prerequisite for admission to the top B-Schools in the country.

Now, out of the 1.75 lakh applicants who sat for CAT, you are among the handful to get a Group Discussion and Personal Interview call.

Arguably, the written part, ie CAT, is that component of the admission process which is most in your control. In Group Discussions, both the kind of group you are in and the topic you are given play a significant role in how you would approach the discussion and how you will be perceived by the selection panel.

Let's find out how to interact with your fellow B-School aspirants and tackle the GD topic to the best of your ability.

Don't let anyone dominate you. This does not mean you try to hog all the airtime; that will work against you. Assurance, not arrogance, is the mantra.

~ Body language

Seem interested in the discussion, without intruding into others' space. Never point fingers at anyone, or stare at the moderators. Sit with your back erect and face alert. There are limits, however, to how much you can do it without seeming artificial. When in doubt, be yourself.

This usually conveys a positive impression, but make sure you do it only if you have understood the topic properly. If you start the GD despite having only a fuzzy idea of the topic, you risk taking the whole discussion along an incoherent or irrelevant path. This will be seen negatively by the selection panel.

It's usually safe to be the second or third speaker. The key benefit of starting is low competition, since usually upto two or three people attempt to start the GD.

In later stages, when everyone wants to put forth their points, you have to fight to be listened to. It generally works well to define the topic first, before starting to interpret it.

Usually people tend to place the events only in the current socio-economic milieu. Break out of that mould.

Think five years back, 50 years, medieval times or even antiquity. Don't stick to a particular country (such as India). Think in terms of what would be the case had we been in the US, or Africa, or the Middle East, or South East Asia. Good historical examples, if coherently related to the topic, guarantee visibility and airtime.

I know a person who recited a Gita Shloka in a GD and got selected in an elite B-School. In the interview, the panel would be more interested in a person who made a memorable point in the GD, as compared to somebody who stayed silent.

For example, if the topic is 'The role of media in our daily lives,' don't just talk of the Page 3 culture or the trivialisation of news channels.

Think in terms of other countries: The Truman Show, the current controversy over Prophet Mohammed's cartoons published in a Danish newspaper or the impact the Tiananmen Square massacre photographs had in galvanising world opinion against China.

Talk about how the first Gulf War's coverage on CNN made the American public treat it almost like a video game, and the effect powerful images such as those of the Vietnam War, or the Iraq prisoner-of-war abuse can have on the home citizens' psyche.

As evident in the media example above, the main thing is to let your imagination flow freely in the one or two minutes you get for thinking about the topic. Jot down ideas as they crowd your brain.

In the last few seconds of the above time, form a coherent opening line in your mind, which would get attention and start directing the discussion. This opener is usually a definition, or a quote ('Perception is reality,' for example). However, you can't just leave a quote hanging in the air, so talk about how media is the most critical source of information, through which our perceptions form.

If you know a bit of history, you can talk about Hearst, who is considered the father of yellow journalism (sensationalising news reporting) and the first person to trivialise newspapers.

Having a good knowledge of history and current affairs undoubtedly helps in GDs, interviews and, for that matter, in any social interaction.